Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Wine and Music
I have often heard people say that wine is a quite esoteric concept and that they struggle to comprehend it. In this post I try to make it more accessible by explaining some popular wines through a different medium – composers. After all, as Robert Fripp said: "music is the wine that fills the cup of silence"...
Riesling / Beethoven:
Refined, elegant, beautiful. But more than that, an underlying complexity and intensity that isn’t immediately apparent. With age both develop into something truly wonderful.
Pinot Noir / J. S. Bach:
Ethereal, sublime, enticing, fantastical. This is the holy grail, a fleeting glimpse of perfection and true beauty.
Bordeaux / Mahler:
Power and a delicate beauty in a perfect combination. Plenty of finesse on show, but also raw energy and passion.
Syrah / Prokofiev:
Spicy, spiky, powerful, balanced.
Chardonnay / Rachmaninov:
Can be truly beautiful. Perhaps suffers from being a little too well-known. Both of them feature in Bridget Jones’ Diary.
Chianti / Puccini:
Fruity, voluptuous, sexy. Best enjoyed outside on a piazza in Tuscany.
Champagne / Wagner:
Famous, very famous, but to really understand it takes a tremendous amount of dedicated study. Changes greatly, and improves, with age. Takes on a more complex and profound character. Best enjoyed slowly.
Malbec / Liszt:
Dark, moody, brilliant, intense.
Pinot Grigio / Mozart:
Dull. Uninspiring. Popular – I have no idea why.
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I'm sorry, I can't accept that slur against the Wolf man, take it back!
ReplyDeleteHa! I think I've annoyed a few people by dissing Herr Mozart. It's all very lovely, but I can't get excited by it, I suppose it's my bias being a trumpet player (he doesn't utilise trumpets overly)....
ReplyDeleteThe Chardonnay one made me laugh out loud!
ReplyDeleteVery nice! Have to disagree with the Mozart though. Ok, as a Pianist I´ve never liked so much he`s Piano sonatas( Haydn sonatas are more inspiring ), which I had to practice alot at some point. But he`s Operas, my god , he`s Operas! Perfection, sublimity, elegance, simpicity, complexity... One my favorite works of Art ever created by man. (dramatic enough:).
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